


One Night Stand

by atwas



Category: Fallen Empires (Web Series), Internet Remix
Genre: Alcohol, Canon Compliant, During Ep. 111, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:47:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atwas/pseuds/atwas
Summary: The time spent between leaving the Noble Stoat Tavern, and Korellian's egress from Skam's room the morning after.
Relationships: Skam Likely/Korellian Veles
Kudos: 2





	One Night Stand

* * *

Korellian was exceptionally drunk.

They knew this much, at least, as they stumbled back to Battenrance Hall from the Noble Stoat Tavern. Not only had they been drinking all day, which had spilled over into the evening, and then the night-- but they had continued drinking far into the night, despite any attempts at common sense or responsibility. The ale still tasted bitter on their tongue as they hoisted Skam back up to his feet. Skam was just about as blasted as they were, and was dragging his feet in the dust as they took the long path around through the rose gardens, and to the back door of the Hall.

"Hey. K. Why're we takin the long way around?" Skam lurched to his feet, only to fall forward once more. Korellian caught him by the shoulder.

"Because, Skam, we don't want to wake up the entire fuckin hall." Korellian hissed, more amused than annoyed.

"Why? Who the fuck cares about them?"

Korellian rolled their eyes. "Yeah ok, even if you don't give a shit, I'm sure they'll be less than happy in the morning."

"Why?" Skam halted their progress and stood up, turning to face Korellian and poking a finger into their chest. “You still care about all them? You’re tellin me you still give a fuckin shit?”

Korellian huffed. “Skam, you’re wasted.”

“Uh. YEAH. So? You think me bein wasted has any sort of effect on my cognitive abilities?” Skam swayed, dangerously close to falling over completely. “No no no, don’t answer that. Shhhhh.” Skam tapped Korellian’s chest, a tap for emphasis with each “no”.

“Fine. I won’t.”

“Good!”

“You done?”

“Yes. No. Was I?” Skam moved to take a step backwards, but tripped on his own feet. Korellian caught him.

“Can’t say for certain at this point, and I’m not even sure you’ll let me guess.” Korellian held Skam at arms length, taking care to not use their claws too much. Even so, they scraped against the porcelain at Skam’s right shoulder. Korellian winced a little.

“You were avoiding the question. You can’t play word games with me, Korellian.” Skam tapped his forehead. “Mind like a steel trap.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah! Exactly! You fuckin GET it.” Skam, at this point, began to head towards Battenrance under his own power. Korellian followed, carefully, doing their best not to stumble and fall into any rose bushes on the way there.

The two of them made it to the door, and Korellian struggled with the handle a bit before managing to get them both inside. Korellian held a claw to their lips, as if to indicate a “please be quiet?” Skam just laughed. Loudly. Korellian winced, and clapped a hand over Skam’s mouth.

After an attempt to mumble out a word, Skam delicately removed Korellian’s hand. “What?”

Korellian’s ears were pinned back. “Just. Quiet? Please?”

Skam leaned in close, close enough that Korellian could smell the cheap whiskey on his breath. “What is it, Korellian? You _ashamed_ of bein seen with me? Is that it?” He grinned. “You worried about what people will think when they see you stumblin in with me, at 3 in the fuckin morning?”

Korellian shot Skam a look, their eyes reflecting in the dim light like a wild animal's.

“Yeah no. Go ahead. Don’t say anything. Strong Korellian. Noble Korellian. All stoic and impassive, but willing to spill their guts to the first fuckin loser who decides to give them the time of day. You may’ve got other people fooled around here, but me, K?” Skam grabbed Korellian by the collar and pulled them close. “I had you pinned since the moment I first met you.”

Korellian growled-- a rolling, feral noise that rumbled from deep within their chest.

“Ooh, _real_ fuckin scary, K. Care to use your words?”

“Care to use your brain, Skam?”

Skam laughed, leaning up against the wall in the back stairwell. The light of the moon cast sharp shadows across his face. “Oh that’s fuckin rich. You’re really gonna take the time to lecture me while we’re both kerschnickered out of our fucking skulls? I mean--”

Skam stopped abruptly as Korellian stalked forward, looking every bit like a predator on the hunt. Their bared teeth glittered in the darkness, and it only took them one arm to pin Skam against the wall. Skam sputtered, his hand instinctively flying up to clutch at Korellian’s hand, where they had a firm hold on his chest.

Korellian leaned in, one claw holding Skam against the wall. Skam sucked in a breath, struggling a little against the crushing weight on his chest. “Hey uh. K? Uh-- I’m uh.” Skam laughed a little, his breath coming in small gasps. “You mind easin up a little bit? Kind of-- kinda hard to breathe.”

Korellian’s growl shifted into something else entirely. Something dangerous. They slowly moved their claw up from Skam’s chest, until it rested gently on his throat. Their claws pricked at Skam’s skin, and they shifted so that their weight was the thing holding Skam against the wall. “It’s a rhetorical question, of course,” they grinned, leaning in a little. “But surely, someone, sometime, has told you that you talk too much?”

Skam wheezed a little bit, but grinned back, all sharp teeth and challenge. “You wouldn’t be the first, that’s for sure.”

The rumble in Korellian’s throat got stronger as they worked their hand up Skam’s neck, until they were tracing the lines of his face with sharp claws.

“So--”

Korellian cut him off with a kiss, hard and savage. Whatever Skam was going to say was muffled into oblivion. After a moment, Skam remembered that he had hands and moved them to rest on Korellian’s shoulders. Korellian had… really sharp teeth, Skam idly thought, tasting blood on his tongue. The two of them parted, and Skam blinked.

“You sure you’re not too drunk for this?” Skam pushed Korellian back slightly, so he could look into their eyes.

Korellian’s tail whipped impatiently from side to side. “Are you going to ask stupid questions, or are we gonna fuck?”

“Uhhh.”

“Mind like a steel trap, remember?”

“Yeah, I did say that--”

“--no effect on your cognitive abilities, right?”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Skam shoved Korellian off of himself with some effort and jerked a thumb towards the stairs. “So was that a fuckin promise? Or are you gonna pussy out on me now?”

Korellian tilted their head slightly, as if to consider Skam, before stepping forward and picking him up entirely-- hoisting him over their shoulder.

“--THE FUCK. K? Do you fuckin mind?”

Skam could feel Korellian’s shoulders shake with unvoiced laughter as they ascended the stairs. “Shut up, will you? Please?”

There was a pause. “Well okay, but just cause you asked nicely.”

* * *

Korellian easily carried Skam up the stairs, and after a moment of consideration, went for Skam's room. "My place it is, then. Good choice." Korellian entered and slung Skam off of their shoulders and on to his own bed, then closed the door behind them. Skam sat up long enough to toss his hat into a corner of the room and shove some extra clothing and components off the bed. Before he could do much of anything else, Korellian was already on top of him, kissing him and pushing him down into the mattress.

Skam fumbled with the buttons on Korellian's shirt, before he felt them smile against his mouth and sit up. They straddled his hips and took off their shirt in a single motion, pulling it up and over their head. Skam reached up, dragging his nails down Korellian's chest-- feeling the soft scales and scars under his fingertips, and the hard muscle beneath that. Korellian leaned over him once more and fumbled with his belt one-handed, taking care to not nick him with their claws. Skam pushed their hand aside to unfasten the belt himself and kick his pants off, hissing in pain as Korellian sank sharp teeth into his shoulder. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't a bad hurt. Not by a long shot.

"You want me to sound-proof?" Skam asked, incredibly distracted by the way Korellian was grinding down against him, and by the claws trailing bright lines of pain down his chest.

Korellian purred against his ear-- fuck, he did _not_ think it was possible to get any harder than he already was-- and traced a teasing line first down his stomach, and then up his inner thigh. "I didn't think you gave a fuck about who heard us, Skam?"

"I mean, I don't, but I figured I'd at least ask--" Skam's words died in his throat as Korellian wrapped a hand around him. They kissed him, mouth hot and hungry against his, and anything else Skam might have tried to say was lost in between tooth and tongue. Skam pulled away, dizzy and breathless, the room swimming around him. He clutched at Korellian's back in an attempt to stay grounded, but it wasn't enough to chase away the dark spots eating away at the edges of his vision, or the spinning sensation that hit him when he closed his eyes. He mumbled something against Korellian's neck, and as they pulled back to ask him what he said, he slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

As soon as Korellian realized that Skam had passed out, they checked to see if he was still alive. He was, of course-- just really fucking wasted. Well, they both were. Drunk out of their minds, really. Korellian had re-dressed Skam partially, and was about to leave before they stopped themselves and returned to the bed. So instead of stalking out and making their way back to their own room, Korellian sat with their back against the wall, and kneaded their claws against their thighs in frustration. The points of pain were enough to keep themselves at least a little focused, but it did nothing to help quell the growing knot of frustration at their core.

"Am I out of my fucking mind?" Korellian didn't realize they had said it out loud until they felt Skam stir slightly beside them. "The answer is yes. Probably."

They took a deep breath and laid a hand on Skam's forehead, calling on the reserve of power they carried within them, and channeled some of the healing magic into him. At least he'd have a bit less of a hangover, they thought wryly, smoothing a stray strand of hair back out of Skam's face. "What the fuck am I doing? What was I thinking?" Korellian's voice shifted into a more contemplative tone, and they idly continued running a gentle claw through Skam's hair as he slept. They stared out across the unfamiliar room-- familiar, once-- taking stock of the mess, of the belongings scattered here and there. Whatever traces that remained of the room's previous occupant were long gone now: packed into neat boxes and stored in some remote closet or attic in the hall. The moonlight spilling through the window provided enough light to give everything the slightest hint of color.

"I never should have agreed to go back to the tavern. I never should have told you half the shit I've told you. I never should have..." Korellian leaned their head back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. "Gods above, I'm such a fucking idiot," they hissed, a tinge of malice in their voice.

Skam moved slightly at Korellian's side, so that his back pressed up against their leg. Korellian stilled, and the room once more lapsed into silence. They hesitantly put their hand on Skam's shoulder, stroking the porcelain and burnished wood of his prosthetic arm-- following the lines of the wire inlays as they intertwined and disappeared into the place where the arm fit into his shoulder.

"I've got feelings too, you know." Skam's voice was quiet in the darkness. Sincere.

Korellian started slightly, pulling their hand back. "I know you do." Korellian's voice was soft, the feral edge to it completely erased, with something else in its place entirely.

"You can't just use me, K."

Korellian shifted so that they were laying down next to Skam, their chest at his back, and tentatively slung a claw around him. They waited for Skam to move away, and when he didn't, they pulled him close. "I'm-- I know, Skam."

Skam lay there, on the knife's edge between sleep and waking. Having Korellian at his back was comforting on some level, and on some level, he hated that. He felt Korellian's tail curl gently around one of his legs, and he sighed. "Sometimes I really fuckin hate that I ended up giving a shit about you."

He felt Korellian nod.

They were both silent for a few minutes.

"If this was gonna be a one night thing, you need to tell me now. I wanna know if I'm gonna get tossed aside in the morning once we've both sobered up." Skam's voice was bitter.

Korellian sighed, their breath warm against the back of his neck. "What did you want from me? From this?"

"I..." Skam shrugged. "I don't know. I thought I did, maybe, but I don't."

Korellian propped themselves up on one arm so they could better look at Skam. "I'm sorry."

Skam didn't say anything, but he turned to look Korellian in the eyes.

"I kind of give a shit about you too. So, I'm sorry for this. I fucked up."

"Spare me the song and dance, Korellian."

Korellian was silent-- not knowing what to say, or if they should even say anything at all. After a minute, they sat up and moved as though to touch Skam's arm again. They hesitated. "May I?"

"Yeah."

Korellian pressed a hand gently against the smooth surface of his arm and let their fingers trail down it, feeling the subtle changes in texture, the joint of the elbow, and the way the different materials connected with each other. "Can you feel this?"

"Kinda. It's not the same." Skam lifted his arm and turned it, examining it himself, and moving the joints. Korellian let their hand fall away. "I know you were touching it, but it doesn't have feeling like my other arm does."

"Does it bother you?"

"Nah. I still get haptic feedback from it and besides, it was worth it. It was worth it to get that smug fuck's poison off my body." Skam flexed his hand.

Korellian gently took the prosthetic hand and ran his claws over it-- articulating the joints, marveling at the way they interlocked, and the subtle ways in which the plates of porcelain shifted to allow for smooth movement. Skam watched them, seeing a glimpse of the same awe they had on their face when they first saw the prosthetic a few days prior.

"It's beautiful, you know." Korellian intertwined their own fingers with Skam's, studying the delicate mechanisms of his fingers and knuckles.

"...Thanks."

Korellian turned Skam's hand, still holding it in their own, and watched the complex adjustments of the wrist. They kissed Skam's knuckles. "Did you feel that?" they asked softly.

"Uhm. Yeah." Skam swallowed, his mouth dry. "Yeah, I did."

Korellian looked down at Skam, with a raw sort of tenderness in their eyes. "Do you mind if I stay the night?"

"No. I don't mind."

Korellian settled back down next to him. "Thank you."

"Yeah uh. No problem, K."

...

"Hey, K?"

"Mm?"

"We're gonna need to talk about this tomorrow."

"I know."

"We will, right? Talk about this, I mean."

"Yeah. We will."

"Good."


End file.
